OK, so I am about to finish Revelation. I'm reading in Revelation 19. Verse 10 stops me in my tracks. I've read it many times and, perhaps, from sheer familiarity I just moved on in times past.
Today I hit a wall and could not move on.
"For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Telling the story of the Gospel, which is Jesus, IS the spirit of prophecy.
How many men have claimed to speak for God in the holy place of proclaimer/pastor/teacher/prophet and spoken nothing relating to Jesus or anything he has taught?
Jeremiah had lots to say about that issue. He spoke to the prophets and priests and condemned them for their folly (see Jeremiah 2:8; 23:23-32).
The priests do not know God. The prophets prophesy lies.
James 3:1 is a warning about claiming to be a pastor/teacher/prophet (I'm assuming pastors and prophets understand their job is to teach).
What are we to teach? From Jeremiah is seems the message was to be God! The priests did not know God! Consequently they were not making him known to the people and they had exchanged what was ultimately great and perfect for that which was broken and could not stand.
They were teaching. They were not teaching what was right.
Have we sold out the message for the sake of the people and in so doing lost the people too?
I fear so.
The Scriptures are not rough on sinners. Sinners find great mercy offered from Father. Jesus was always merciful and compassionate, firm at times, but compassionate with the sinner. God offered warning to the sinner to come for mercy and repent.
Jesus was brutal on those who claimed to know God. See Matthew 23. See Jeremiah, Isaiah etc.
So, I feel that it's O.K. to be harsh on my own kind. Those who claim to know God and represent him to his people.
The problem I keep running in to is that people want pragmatic steps to solving their problems that have been created via their folly.
Many of the people are finding that in preachers.
This is not to say that the pragmatic is not good. It is if it is right. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that practical solutions come from the assurance we have in knowing God. So, pragmatism's place is found resulting from knowing God.
The question becomes: Are pastors knowing God and making him known and allowing their pragmatic "how to" messages to result from knowing God and making him known? I'm not sure this is the case.
I find very few men who are doing this. Driscoll, Chandler, Piper, Carson, Keller to name a few. There are a few in Rome. Not many.
What is marriage's purpose? Why do we marry people? What is our marriage policy as pastors? This is just one issue that seems to reflect that we do not know God as a group of teachers of what God says. We seem to favor the people not God. God's standard is so high that people and pastors bristle at what is right.
We have allowed pragmatism to replace knowing God. We have allowed the fear of people to replace the fear of God.
We should be knowing God and allowing our practical ministry to flow from that. That alone would repair some of our issues in the life of the home if we would teach God's standard, hold to it, enforce it, discipline because of it and withstand the criticism for it.
By the way if you don't know what marriage is for, ask your pastor and see if it matches the text. If you don't know the text(s) then begin in Genesis and read to Revelation and mark them and see if the pastor's answer matches up.
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
My main function is to testify to Jesus in all that he is, says and is doing today. If I do this I can then address the issues with proper and practical solutions that are based in truth. The question is will I and the church do the practical that results from truth. There is a cost.
If anyone claims to teach or prophecy and Jesus' words, deeds or actions are not represented, then tune them out and find something else.
Is the testimony of Jesus what I do? Do my words as a teacher and my actions as a follower of Christ project the testimony of Jesus? If so I'm a prophet that is doing his job, a teacher fulfilling his mission. If not, I must repent.
Examining myself and my kind,
mj
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Couldn't agree more. If we are not teachin/preaching the Jesus and His cross then we are ultimately doing a grave disservice to the people who hear us. Nothing else will do.
Post a Comment